17 September 2015

It was a very large proposal, and very important for my firm. If we had been selected, it would have been my firm's first million-dollar contract as a prime consultant.

A little while after the submittal deadline, our PIC received a phone call from the client's project manager. Our proposal had been thrown out for being "non-compliant," because one signed form was missing.

Damn! Maybe I should have used a checklist!

I thank Ginger Williams of the BD Collaborativefor making a "checklist believer" out of me. Shortly before the incident described above, Ginger led an SMPS Dallas chapter session on how to manage the marketing effort. She stressed creating and using checklists to manage the many moving pieces of a pursuit.

Until that session, it had never occurred to me that checklists would be useful. After that session, I thought checklists might be useful.

After the incident described above, I knew that checklists were the only way to keep all the pieces moving until they came together in the final step of the pursuit.

Even if we have talked with the client about the project in advance of the RFQ/RFP, we still can't make a final Go/No Go decision until there is detailed information on scope, submittal and project schedules, potential fees, and other items. Once the RFQ/RFP appears, the first read takes my employer or client through the final Go/No Go evaluation. Once there is a "Go," the pursuit begins.

Now I create a checklist on every SOQ and proposal, starting with my second reading of the solicitation, which happens right after the "Go" decision.

I read the solicitation noting every requirement about submittal schedule, deadline for questions, document contents, MBE/WBE/HUB/8(a) participation goals, technical scope, subconsultant needs, evaluation criteria, scoring, and packaging and labeling of the final delivery.

I list each form separately, because some will need only to be filled in while others will require a signature, and possibly notarization.

I put this information into a table, fleshing out the proposal schedule to specify individual parts with names and due dates. Then I make sure items are in the proper sequence, (i.e. long-lead items, like the project approach, are not at the bottom of the list).

When completed, I distribute the table to the proposal teamso everyone knows his/her deadline and how it might impact other team members.

By the way, if an Addendum includes a significant change in scope or schedule, we might even revisit the Go/No Go decision.

Updating the checklist as draft items come in and are reviewed, revised, and finalized helps me track the status of each piece and the overall effort.

Once the assignments are in motion, I prepare delivery envelopes or boxes with labels as specified in the solicitation. I make sure there are no delivery prohibitions, such as the US Postal Service's instruction to deliver by hand, courier, or USPS method. They will not accept a proposal delivered by FedEx, UPS, or any other competitor. This information goes into the checklist

If the package is to be delivered by courier, I check the courier's rules. For example, if a delivery crosses a county line, that might allow the courier to add an hour to the delivery time. So the one-hour delivery you order can take two hours and be considered "on-time" from the courier's standpoint, even though it may miss the deadline.

Ever since I learned my lesson with that forgotten form, and started making checklists, I have wondered how I ever managed a proposal without checklists.